Everyone is
by MissFeral
Summary: East of Eden story, starring James Dean. Missing scene from the movie. What if Abra had asked Cal if he was ticklish?


Cal Trask and his new friend Abra were reclining in the tall grass, talking wistfully about Abra's life. Well, Abra was doing most of the talking. She told Cal the story of when she threw a $3,000 diamond ring into the lake. She told him about how her mother passed away when she was just a child and her father got married again. Abra explained how utterly miserable she was during that period in her life. She had been angry and bitter all the time because she felt unloved. It was awful for her. Simply awful.

Cal tried to pay attention to her but was growing restless. She decided to change the subject. Maybe it was time to talk about him a little, instead of just herself. Abra did have something on her mind that she was curious about. She had been wanting to ask him and now seemed like a good time.

"Are you ticklish?" Abra asked him.

"Ticklish?" Cal said, chuckling a bit. "Me? Ticklish? No. Not me. I'm not ticklish."

Abra looked at him skeptically. "Oh, everyone is ticklish. You must be ticklish, Cal."

Cal giggled, scratching casually at his cheek. "No, no. I'm not ticklish. Not ticklish at all."

"Mind if I find out for myself?" Abra asked, smiling.

Cal shrugged, no harm in letting her try.

Abra reached out and began tickling him under the chin. No reaction.

"See, told ya."

Abra cocked her head. "Hey, what about right here?" she asked, wiggling her fingers on his neck.

Cal yelped, jerking away from her touch. "Hehehey, stohohop!"

"Haha!" Abra laughed. "I found a spot!" With that, she attacked his neck again.

Cal scrunched up his shoulders, trying in vain to block her fingers. He was giggling wildly. It took all his willpower to keep from bursting out laughing. "Heehee! Ahahehehehee! Okay, okay! You made your point!"

Abra stopped and gave Cal a moment to calm himself down.

"I told you so," she teased, tapping his nose playfully. "You got a tickle bug in you."

Cal grinned a silly grin. He kept his eyes low.

"So now...let's find out where else you're ticklish," she said, with an impish grin.

Cal glanced at her, slightly confused. "But...aren't you done?"

Abra laughed. "Of course I'm not done. You can't expect me to stop now. Raise your arms."

Cal stared at her. He was pretty nervous, considering what she had just done to him.

"Raise your arms," Abra ordered.

Cal sat up straight and clasped his hands over his head. He knew he probably wasn't going like this one bit. He was wearing short sleeves so most of his arm was bare.

Abra began stroking the soft flesh on the underside of his arm, a little above the armpit. Cal screamed and his arms shot down by his sides. He was still laughing even when the tickling had stopped.

"I hardly did anything," Abra protested.

"N-no more," he giggled, still reeling from that last tickle.

"Put your arms back up," she commanded.

Cal shook his head and kept his arms firmly planted by his sides. Abra straddled him and tried to get her hands into his pits. Cal squirmed and let out some boyish giggles before exploding with hard laughter as she tickled his underarms.

"AAAAAHHH NOOOAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ABRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HEEHEEHEEHEEHEHEHEHEHEE!"

He managed to roll over on his stomach and Abra sat on his back, digging her fingers into his sides. "Tickle tickle tickle..."

Cal buried his face in the dirt to muffle his laughs as he writhed around beneath her, attempting to push her hands away. He was so embarrassed by all this but he couldn't stop laughing. He was surprised by how ticklish he was. He remembered being tickled by his father when he was little, but that was so long ago. Cal was sure he had outgrown the ticklish weakness, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Ooh, I'm gonna get your tummy!" Abra pushed him over on his back and started tickling his belly. He burst into even harder laughter and grabbed her hands, but he was too weak to fight back. His face turned deep red, tears fell from his eyes. Abra giggled at the sight of his laughing face. His dimples were amazing.

"HEEHEHEHEEHEHEEHEE! NOHOHOHOHOHO CUT IT OUTHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEEEEEASE HEHEEHEHEHEHEEHEE!"

Abra finally let up, and Cal curled up in a ball. His hair was matted against his red face. He gasped for air, still laughing and giggling like a school girl.

Abra chuckled and stroked his damp hair, soothingly. "I told you, Cal. Everyone is ticklish."

"It...it's not much fun," he panted, lying down on the grass. He closed his eyes and relaxed a bit, letting the breeze cool his sweaty face.

Without warning, Abra dug her fingers into his ribs and tickled him furiously, making him squeal and explode with cute laughter all over again.

"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HEEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEE! THAT TIHIHIHICKLES!" he howled, writhing around to escape her playful fingers.

"I love your laugh, Cal," she giggled. "I just love it."

"I love yours too," Cal mumbled as he caught his breath.

"How about your feet?" asked Abra.

"What about them?"

"How ticklish are they?" she asked, smirking. "Are they as ticklish as the rest of you?"

Cal blushed and buried his face in his hands. "Please, no...not my feet."

"Take off your shoes," Abra ordered him. "Right now."

He giggled awkwardly. "Please, Abra..."

"Are you going to take your shoes off or do I have to rip them off you?"

Cal was very nervous. He knew his feet had been horribly ticklish when he was younger. He slowly removed his shoes, revealing a pair of socked feet. Abra couldn't help but laugh at his socks...there were big holes that exposed his toes.

Cal felt his face growing hotter by the second. Abra picked up his feet and placed them in her lap. She started by dragging her index finger up and down his sole.

Cal belted out a laugh and nearly kicked her in the face!

"Hey, give me back that foot!" Abra chuckled, as Cal rubbed his sole roughly to get rid of the tickly sensation.

"No, no, I can't stand it. No more feet tickles, please Abra."

She grabbed his ankles, put them in a headlock, and began tickling his feet.

Cal screamed, and threw back his head as he laughed hysterically. He thrashed so hard that Abra couldn't even hold onto his feet. She had to sit on top of his legs and pin him down with her body weight. Then she pulled off his socks and spidered her fingers all over his bare soles.

Cal went berserk. He bucked and flipped around to no avail. Tears flew from his eyes as his head whipped back and forth.

"AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA EEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEE! NOOOO HEEHEEHEHEHEHEHEHEE!"

As if by fate, Abra found a long brown feather on the ground. It was just going to waste there so she grabbed the plume and began rubbing it against Cal's naked soles.

His face turned tomato red as he started having convulsions. He was having trouble breathing now and Abra noticed this so she stopped tickling him.

"That was so cute, Cal," she giggled.

He just lay in the grass, exhausted. He was giggling and blubbering.

"Come on," she urged, poking him in the shoulder. "Admit it. I want to hear you admit it!"

He looked at her through teary, reddened eyes. "Admit what?"

Abra wriggled her fingers and gave him a menacing glare. "Do I have to make you say it?"

"Okay! Okay...you win. I admit it. I'm ticklish."

Abra leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. Cal glanced at her with a funny little smirk on his face.

"Did I ever tell you you're trouble?" he asked, playfully.

Abra giggled. "I never go looking for trouble."

"So, it always finds you then?"

"Yes, maybe it does. But truthfully, I'm just glad to be having fun again. I never had very much fun growing up."

Cal nodded. "Yep, you told me."

Abra hugged her knees, giving Cal a brief puppy dog gaze. "Don't you like to hear me talk, Caleb?"

Cal looked away for a moment, before looking back at her and smiling. "I could listen to your voice forever." With that, he stood up and started to stretch but suddenly started laughing and giggling again.

"What are you laughing at?" Abra asked with a grin.

"The grass, it heehehehehe tickles my feet hahahahaha!"

"Oh," Abra grabbed his discarded shoes and socks and gave them back to him. "Here, you might want these back."

"Hehehe thahahanks," he giggled as he sat down to put his footwear on.

Abra watched him with keen interest. There was something about him. She was finally feeling needed and loved by somebody. A kind person who would not abandon or betray her. She had fallen in love.

The End


End file.
